Daydreams and Nightmares
by thedoeandthedeer
Summary: James Potter needs a girlfriend. Lily Evans wants good grades. Sirius Black needs to get through this year. Marlene Mckinnon just wants a break. Lucy Matthews loves a married man. Ella King needs to get out. Remus Lupin wants to be noticed. They're all in their last year at Hogwarts. They're all just trying to figure it out.
1. What about Evans?

"I need a really hot girlfriend." James Potter announced to his friends. "Like _really_ hot."

It was late, and the Potter's terrace balcony was covered in blankets, and the assorted, bedraggled limbs of the drunken Marauders. Sirius Black was lying on his back with his head resting on someone's stomach. Probably Remus'. Remus himself was staring into the sky, trying to keep himself sober by naming the constellations they had learned in Astronomy. Peter Pettigrew was leaning against the door which opened to James' bedroom. He was looking at his hands, as though trying to figure out how they got there. He didn't react well to alcohol. All three slowly lifted their heads and looked towards James. He was attempting to sit up, but was in a very awkward position. Remus seemed to have fallen asleep on his left leg.

"What you talkin' 'bout?" Peter slurred, staring at his friend.

"A _girlfriend _Wormtail, you idiot. A _girl...friend."_ James spoke very slowly, as if to a child.

"We heard you, you wanker. He meant, what about Evans?" Sirius sent him the most calculating look he could muster. "Aren't you supposed to be eternally in love with her and shit?"

James threw his hands in the air in an exaggerated attempt at derision of their stupidity, hit the rail of the balustrade and yelped in pain. He seemed to forget his injury however, as he turned to his friends with a smirk.

"It's all part of the plan, _Mr Black_. She'll see that I've moved on, and that I won't wait forever, and then she'll fall in love with me. Duh." James shrugged his shoulders as if to say "_obviously._"

"BOYS! GO TO BED FOR MERLIN'S SAKE IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!" Remus woke up with a start at the sound of Mrs Potter's voice.

"SHIT! It's nearly 2 and we've got to be up at 8 to get to King's Cross by 11!" The boys got up, went inside, and collapsed on their makeshift beds. James sighed.

"Can you believe it? Our last year at Hogwarts. It'd better be a good one boys."


	2. We've got a werewolf!

"Lucy! Get up we're going to be late!" Lily Evans wasn't good at early mornings, and she especially wasn't thrilled about this one. She stepped closer to the door of her friend's bedroom and screeched "LUCY FUCKING MATTHEWS GET OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I'LL-" A small blonde opened the door, startled and fully dressed.

"Chill out sweetheart, I was up before you got here!" She stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind her. "Good thing my parents have already left for work or they'd have a fit at that noise." The soft popping noise of someone disapparating came from behind the door. Lily raised her eyebrows and Lucy gave a wry smile.

"Yes. Rather fortunate we're alone in the house." Lily turned her back and smiled, making her way downstairs. "Hurry up and get your stuff together, Marlene will be here in a minute and then we need to GO!"

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to be late on your first day as _Head Girl_!"Lily's smile faltered. Yes. Head Girl. It wasn't that she didn't want to be head girl, and that she didn't jump up and down in delight when she got her letter (she did, loud enough for Petunia to come in the room and ask her to stop). It was just that the Head Girl was required to spend rather a lot of time with her Head Boy, and that was where the problem occurred. Head Boy was James Potter. And Lily wanted to spend as little time as possible with James Bloody Potter.

"Have you ever got the feeling that someone didn't like you?" Marlene McKinnon asked, spinning into view in the Matthews' pristine, marble covered kitchen. "Like they talk to you and everything, but it's like they just don't want you around?" Lily looked up from triple checking her school list and sighed. Marlene stood in a gorgeous (no doubt designer) summer dress, sapping up the last of the heat. Her long hair had lightened from its usual chocolate to what Lucy would call "caramel". She was standing with four Louis Vuitton suitcases and was in the process of taking off Chanel sunglasses, revealing expertly applied makeup.

"Your Dad loves you Mar, it's just been a very stressful few weeks starting his new job, that's all. You look great, by the way." Lily looked at her and smiled sadly. Marlene is what most muggles would call 'model material'; tall as a tree, with legs for days. Marlene, however, was extremely self conscious about every aspect of her appearance.

"Thanks _Mum_." Marlene smiled and ran to hug her best friend. "So where's the woman of the house? Still packing?" She looked at her watch and started. "Shit. Lil, it's 10:30."

"FUCK." Lily tilted her head toward the staircase. "LUCY MATTHEWS! WE NEED TO LEAVE. NOW."

Lucy ran downstairs with all her bags and an owl's cage holding her tawny, Piggle. Her jaw dropped when she saw Marlene.

"Jesus, who brought Malibu Barbie? You look like you married a Quiddich player!" her surprise was not unexpected, or uncalled for. Last year, Marlene looked like she'd never seen a dress before, or heard of makeup. All of this changed, however, when her long term boyfriend Marcus ended things and her Dad got a new job as one of the executives of a muggle firm in London, which came with a huge pay raise. Marlene decided it was time to "become a woman". She bought designer clothes, makeup, accessories, shoes, the works. Lucy hadn't seen her since the big transformation, so obviously, it was rather a shock.

"Shut up, do I look ok?" Marlene looked hopefully at her friend. "Is it too much?"

"You look _AMAZING!_ Marcus Digby be damned, you'll have _Sirius Black_ drooling looking that good!" Marlene beamed.

"OK, we'll have time for a nice chat about how brilliant Marlene looks _on the train_, which we're going to miss if we don't get going!" Lily piped up, picking up her own things and walking towards the point on the floor where Marlene had appeared. Lucy and Marlene quickly picked up their own things, and the three girls simultaneously closed their eyes, turned on the spot, and vanished.

* * *

Ella King sat alone on the Hogwarts Express. She could hear the muffled sounds of other students laughing and shouting, trying to find their friends. She looked across the empty compartment towards the door. The train was filling up fast. She pointed her wand at the door, locked it, and pulled down the blinds. She didn't want company. Especially not from noisy first years who would undoubtedly want to interrogate her about the '_wonders'_ of Hogwarts.

She didn't want to go back there. She needed to be out there, fighting, helping – _anything_ to stop what was happening out there. People were dying and all anyone cared about was her NEWTs. Who's going to give a damn about grades when Voldemort takes over and kicks all non-purebloods like herself out of Hogwarts – out of the wizarding world? There were people working to stop him, and she needed to be helping them.

She could not let her mother die in vain.

She had been an advocator of muggle rights, high up in the leading organisation for wizarding equality – The Organisation for the Promotion of Wizarding Welfare (OPWW), and was last year for sticking to her beliefs in front of the "Dark Lord" and all of his "death eaters".

It wasn't fair. No one should have to die for trying to make the world a better place. She wanted to help. To fight.

But her father insisted. He was a muggle himself, and had no idea the extent to which Voldemort would affect the world – even muggles too. He didn't understand that his wife had been killed by the leader of a cult that was expanding to the point where there is a member in nearly every important group – government, education, healthcare, _everything. _He just thought it was some crazy radical that had lost his shit and attacked her. He couldn't not be more wrong. Every murder was planned, as a warning or a message.

The door handle was rattled and Ella started.

"Hello? Are you OK in there?" It was Remus Lupin. Ella didn't want to be disturbed, so she just ignored him. Remus and his cronies didn't care about what was happening out there – they only cared about getting drunk and pissing off Filtch.

"Hello? Are you hurt..? Shit... _Alohamora!_" The door flew open andRemus came bursting in, eyes darting around the room for signs of trouble. His eyes rested on Ella, his face softened, and he turned around, locked the door again and sat beside her. "Ella, are you OK? Please don't cry."

Ella looked up at him and lifted her hand to her face. She hadn't even realised she was crying. He reached around in his pockets and pulled out a tissue. He handed it to her with a smile.

"I'm sorry about your mum, by the way. Is that why you were upset?" Ella looked at him. This isn't what a Marauder would do, is it? He waited, looking at her with kind, hazel eyes, not rushing her. For a second she considered sending back a snappy retort about where he could shove it, but for some reason she felt herself spilling all her feelings about her mother, wanting to leave Hogwarts and how unhappy she was that her Dad didn't realise how serious it was.

Remus sat, listened, waited. Ella was like a balloon filled to full capacity, and he was watching the air being released. To begin with, she talked whilst staring out of the window, slowly and deliberately. After a while though, she had turned towards Remus, and was talking quickly, with passion.

"I can't just stay at Hogwarts, watching everyone walking around like nothing's happening! What good can I do there?" She came to a stop.

"Well..." Remus spoke for the first time. "Maybe that's what you should do?" Ella looked confused. Remus explained. "If no one at Hogwarts knows what's going on, then couldn't you tell them? People can't do anything if they don't know what's happening, right?"

Ella looked out of the window. He had a point. How was anyone at Hogwarts supposed to know what was happening out there if no one told them?

Remus stood up. "I need to go and check on the first years. Are you going to be OK?" Ella raised her eyes to his and smiled.

"Yes, I'll be fine, thank you Remus." She stood up and hugged him. He lifted his hands, wrapped them around her waist and squeezed.

"You're welcome." He replied, barely more than a whisper. He released his grip and she looked directly into his eyes. _She has very pretty eyes,_ Remus thought. He blushed as soon as he thought it, and looked away. Ella also turned a delicate shade of crimson, and sat back down, returning her gaze to the passing scenery.

* * *

Remus hated this part of being a prefect. He always had to smile and be helpful, not let on that he'd rather be in a private compartment with his mates. Although, he wouldn't be able to be in a compartments with his mates right now anyway, because James wasn't there, so Sirius will be chatting up some girl or causing trouble, and Peter will have gone to find Lucy.

Suddenly, as if he'd summoned them by magic, Lucy and Peter came into view as Remus stuck his head around a compartment door.

"–It's like an alien has cloned her and is walking around in her body – she looks like herself, but _completely_ different, you know what I mean?" Lucy was sitting against the doorframe, looking out at the scenery, her knees tucked into her chest, her hands playing with the detail on her shoes. She was talking quickly, as if trying to change the subject. Peter sat across from her, leaning against the window, looking at Lucy like she was more beautiful than any of the views he was ignoring behind him. Lucy turned around as Remus walked in, and Peter tore his eyes away from her to greet him.

"Hey Moony, where have you been? We'll be at Hogwarts in an hour and a half!"

"Just patrolling, what are you guys talking about?" Remus didn't know why he lied about spending the two hours talking to Ella; he told himself it was because he didn't want word to get out that she had a mental breakdown in carriage B. He sat down in-between Lucy and Peter, and directed his question to Lucy.

"Marlene, have you seen her?" Remus wasn't sure why he was being asked if he'd seen his housemate – they'd hardly spoken since he tutored her for their OWLs.

"No, why?" It was Peter that answered this time.

"She had like a makeover over the summer or something." He didn't seem very interested, but Lucy was off.

"She got highlights, and went to Cannes so she's got a _killer_ tan. She has like 40 Gucci dresses and about 20 pairs of Louboutins, it's _incredible._ I can't believe how well she came out of that breakup she looks like a _million dollars!"_ Lucy went on to explain how important all Marlene's changes are, and how they're going to make her into "such a more confident person". Remus politely excused himself, and Lucy didn't even pause to say goodbye, she just waved. Peter quickly moved into Remus vacated spot.

* * *

Further along the train, Remus ran into Lily, who was also patrolling.

"Remus! Hey!" her smile suddenly fell as she remembered something. Her voice turned accusatory. "Why weren't you at the meeting? Potter wasn't there either. It's not very good form for the Head boy to miss his first meeting, was he with you?"

"No, he was probably with Sirius, I was with Ella King. She was really upset and we talked for ages about it. I was just trying to help. Sorry I missed the meeting though." He wringed his hands together, preparing to be lectured on how irresponsible it was to miss the meeting and how she was counting on him to bring James. But the lecture didn't come.

"Ella King? Remus, you know you can't go there right? She just lost her mum, she's in a very fragile state."

Remus wanted to tell Lily that the thought hadn't even crossed his mind, but as he looked at her, he could feel himself turning red.

"I know, she was just upset and we talked. Lil, you know that I wouldn't even if she wasn't fragile – I couldn't."

* * *

Lily looked at Remus and smiled sadly – she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. She knew about Remus' "furry little problem", as Sirius called it. What she didn't understand was why it was such a big deal. Remus has a problem one night a month; it shouldn't define who he is the rest of the time. He was such a good person and she wished he could see that.

She said goodbye to Remus and carried on walking. What she didn't understand was why Potter hadn't come to the meeting. She thought she'd left it on good terms when she'd bumped into him in Diagon Alley over the summer. She'd even reminded him not to forget the meeting. She thought he was OK with her now, but apparently he couldn't even be mature enough to come to a meeting he was supposed to be leading.

Further down the train she came across a compartment full of first years buzzing with excitement, all gathered around a very good looking boy with lusciously dark hair. He gave off an extremely laid-back air, and winked at Lily as she leaned against the door.

"–then basically, you have to give the dragon the password to get inside the classroom and if you don't know the password it'll– oh hey Evans!" Sirius Black smiled as Lily looked exasperatedly at him, while one of the more tiny first years turned to another and whispered "_what will it do_?!"

"It won't _do_ anything – there are no dragons at Hogwarts." Lily said to the first year, who visibly relaxed into his seat. She then turned to Sirius. "Have you seen Potter? He missed the meeting and I've been looking everywhere." Sirius eyed her thoughtfully.

"He's probably off with that girl... what was her name...? No, can't remember, sorry Red. If I see him I'll tell him you stopped by though." She was taken off guard. There was a girl?

She shook it off and said "thanks Black. You'd better get changed you know, we'll be there soon." And with that, she left.

* * *

"But did she seem disappointed?" James was quizzing Sirius on his conversation with Lily. They were disembarking the train and walking across the still-light train station towards the carriages. Summer just didn't seem to want to let go just yet.

"Like she was in love with you and couldn't stand the world without you? No, not really, she just seemed pissed that you'd missed the meeting. Where were you anyway?"

"I was on the lookout for the aforementioned hot girlfriend. I figured missing the meeting was the perfect was to pique her interest in said new girlfriend. My hand kills by the way, what happened there?" Remus materialised out of nowhere, and his two friends filled him in on the new plan: James needed a girlfriend by the time he next saw Lily. A really hot one.

"Well the only rumours I've heard about girls is that Marlene McKinnon got really hot over summer. That's what I heard from Lucy. And some of those Ravenclaw boys in Carriage D." Peter had showed up too, giving in his two cents. "But even _you_ wouldn't stoop _that_ low, and she's Lily's best friend after all, she probably won't give you the time of day."

"True." They were in the carriages now, heading up towards the school.

"Well if you're not going to go for it, mind if I have a pop? She was always quite fit, but a bit frigid. Maybe she's ready for a good shagging." Sirius was always thinking about that one thing.

"Yeah, except you'll have Marcus Digby to answer to if you do." Marcus Digby, Marlene's ex, was a Ravenclaw beater; he was absolutely massive. "And if you want that you're a braver man than I."

"We'll see. He broke it off, so I recon it'll be fine. And what's he gonna do? We've got a werewolf!"

"Hey!" Remus finally joined the conversation. "In no way do you 'have' me, Black!"

"Oh sweetheart you have no idea."

* * *

Lily looked up from her seat in the great hall. The sorting had just finished and Dumbledore had got to his feet.

"Welcome all of you, to another year at Hogwarts. I have a few start-of-term announcements, and then we can all enjoy this excellent feast. Firstly, Mr Filtch would like me to tell you that there are now 17 new additions to the list of prohibited items..." Lily looked away, she didn't really care about the banned objects; the list was already too long to read in one sitting. She looked over to the Marauders, and could almost hear Potter planning a prank using every single new item on the list. Lily drew her attention back to the Headmaster, who was now introducing the new teachers.

"Madame Pomfrey will be replacing Madame Kimmel in the post of matron. Now, we have one more new addition to our staff: The Defence Against the Dark Arts post. I am pleased to announce that for one year, after returning from his studies of vampires in Albania, an old student of ours has decided to come back and try his hand at teaching. Would you please give a warm round of applause for Professor Lucius Malfoy!" Lily's neck nearly snapped as she whipped around to stare at the young, blonde haired man now standing up to tumultuous applause from the Slytherin table.

"No way."

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys, I kind of rushed through this chapter because I wanted to introduce everyone quickly so I could get on with the story. It is canon that Lucius Malfoy was at least a 5th year when the marauders/lily/snape started because it said that he was a prefect, so _yes_ it is completely possible that he "studied" in _ALBANIA_ for a few years and decided to come back to Hogwarts (just thought I'd put it out there ) I'm not sure how long this fic is going to be, but I hope you enjoy it

_**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**_


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